Haunted
by steepedinshadows419
Summary: AU - Up until his freshman year of college, Barry only kept one secret from Iris. In 2014, he kept three. Barry/Iris. Multi-chap.


**A/N:** A vampire fic! Once again, commissioned by **andromidagalaxie**. I have a lot in mind for this fic, but sadly I don't know when I'll be writing the next chapter. I hope this first installment pulls you in enough to keep reading when I finally do!

*****Many thanks to **sendtherain** for beta'ing.

*****I own nothing. No copyright infringement intended.

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**Prologue - **

Barry didn't like being scared.

He didn't like it as a kid when there were legitimate things like homelessness and life-threatening circumstances to actually be afraid of, and he didn't like it now when his best friend (and love of his life, though she didn't know it), Iris West, insisted he needed to partake in Halloween for once and go with her to a haunted house.

He'd told himself a hundred times over that there was nothing to be afraid of. These were gimmicky, plastic things meant to scare children and the faint of heart on the creepiest, stupidest day of the year. Of course he couldn't say that out loud because next to Christmas and her birthday, Iris loved Halloween best; and he loved her, so the thoughts were kept to himself. In fact, they were held so secretly from her that minus some minor grumbling, he'd almost immediately jumped at the opportunity of going with his best friend to said haunted house.

Now though, dressed as a CSI – because duh, dream job – Barry stood about ten feet away from the looming haunted house and wondered if this was such a great idea after all and where the hell Iris was, and if she was playing some dumb Halloween trick on him.

His pondering came to an abrupt halt when he heard her cute scoff from behind him.

"A CSI? Really, Bear?"

He spun around, too stunned to answer when he saw the sexy nurse ensemble she'd come in. The push-up bra showing beneath the shorter than short top and curve of her butt at the bottom of her mini-skirt was completely his undoing.

Somehow though, she remained oblivious.

"You have your whole life to dress like that. When will you get to dress like something totally crazy?"

"Every Halloween presumably," he muttered under his breath.

She smacked him lightly and giggled, looping her arm through his as her long locks brushed his jacket and he glanced down at her cleavage, looking away quickly by the time she'd turned her gaze to his.

"Are you ready for this?" she asked, the anticipation in her voice unmistakable.

"Only if you are," he said, sounding amused, feeling terrified.

"Born ready, Baby." She smirked and winked, then pulled him along into the daunting, totally overpriced, dark and looming haunted house filled with three floors of flickering lights, evil laughter, and a variety of creatures ranging from ghosts and goblins to witches and zombies.

_I hate Halloween_, he thought, dreading what was to come.

If only he'd known just how truly terrible the night would turn out to be, and how unbelievably grateful he'd be that Iris came through it unscathed.

Not so with himself.

"Twenty bucks a piece," a snarly woman dressed as a witch at the door told them.

Iris quickly handed forty dollars over.

"Worth it."

Then she took Barry's hand and pulled him into the house with her, and for the first five minutes at least he wasn't scared at all. Iris' hand was warm and soft and tiny in his grasp, but it made him feel warm and fuzzy inside. So much so that he didn't see the ugly clown pop up in front of their faces until it was too little.

He nearly jumped out of his skin and Iris screamed and clutched at him.

"I thought you _like_ these kinds of things," he accused, surprised by her scare.

"Fun fact? I've never actually been to one before."

"Iris!"

She laughed.

"You're the only person I've ever wanted to go with, and you never want to go!"

_That_ made him feel warm and fuzzy too. He smiled.

She rolled her eyes.

"Don't let it go to your head," she warned, but she was smiling too.

Beaming wide, Barry didn't even notice when the large plastic, vibrating, screeching bat came down and hit him straight in the head.

"Oh, my God, Barry!"

Iris was by his side immediately as he crumbled to the floor. Some people moved away from them; others crowded to see what had happened out of curiosity.

Iris' worried face was the last thing he saw before blacking out.

"_Barry_?"


End file.
